Of Average Orbits

     The world is round and constantly spinning.  Gravity and orbits are prevalent in the observably known universe.  So all those planets and stars we see at night are average too.  Right?  Many of us live in cities where the luminescence of our technological existence hide the radiance of the night sky.  Well, it was average before Mr. Edison came up with the light bulb.  Yet, around the globe there are places where the stars are the only energy giving light to what can be seen on earth once the sun races off to the western horizon.  To many that is an amazing not so average spectacle.  There are people in the world that maybe have only seen a few of the brightest stars that pierce through the man made terrestial glow of civilization.  There are those who bask in the truest natural array nightly.

     The idea of average is dependent upon perspective.  What I do is average.  I can look in the mirror and know wholehearted it is absolutely true, befitting even.  I am okay with that.  The Alex Honnolds and Ueli Stecks of the universe may think the same when they look in the mirror.  Average guys, doing what they love, doing it better than anyone else.  Of course you and I know otherwise.  We can’t help but go wow on their feats of above averageness, in places above the par of mere spectacle.  My friends and family in the social media think we’re all crazy.  Some are in awe.  Rock climbing churns different reactions.  Perspective. 

   I am not a sponsored athlete.  I go to places out of the expense of putting money aside from my biweekly paychecks.  My job pains me sometimes.  No job is perfect.  The figurative grass for me is always greener in the mountains, the desert, the ocean.  The front lawns of Honnold and Steck are so verdant I rejoice in pure inspiration.  

     My manager at work and climbing partner DM tires of reading the exploits of these very fortunate people.  I can’t blame him.  He reads them anyways, but he wants to write his own stories, as well do I.  He has a wife and a six year old daughter.  Sometimes he feels he is cheating on them because of our work.  Long days, clients, politics, are more tenuous than a day in the mountains.  We are cheating on passion.  We may go to the climbing gym at lunch, but we sneer when time has elapsed and it’s time to put back on our shackles.  We sit in our shared office and sneak a minute to discuss the latest Will Gadd or Brendan Leonard blog posts, wishing we were right there with them.  That’s the double edged sword of the internet, you follow these heroic figures, but can easily lead yourself to nowhere.  I’ve referred many a friend to the beautifully produced Will Gadd video treatise on movement dubbed appropriately “Move.”  Very few have answered that call.  It did give DM shivers watching it.  Beyond Mr. Gadd’s words, DM’s reaction inspired me even more.  He began training vehemently.  He inspired his wife to get moving.  He took his daughter climbing for the first time and she loved it.  As much as I love to watch the rock stars of the world, seeing DM transform before my eyes inspired me better than the pictures painted by the latest climbing mags can stir.  Thanks Will Gadd, thank you DM.

   We probably may never climb 5.14 and we may never get a chance to explore remote mountains in the Himilayas.  That is okay with me.  There is enough in our own backyard to make for a grand adventure.  There are destinations close, yet far enough away from urban and suburban light pollution, to give us the canvas of stars to trace our own constellations.  I am okay with being an average guy, an average weekend warrior.  Getting out there, even for just a day, may push me up a category, to some friends’ perspectives.  I don’t believe the hype.  I post pictures on my Facebook to remind myself I was there, but likes and comments do not give me validation.  My orbit from home, to work, to the mountains, to the desert, to the beach, back to work and on and on is beyond validation.  I just let it be a natural cycle just as the moon, the planets, and our earth around the sun.  They exist, as do I.  The average natural scheme of things.

 

—Rodolfo R. Sales Jr.